The Weekly Bulletin | March 4, 2025

Hi SODP community,

Let’s recap on what’s been happening, the new content, industry updates, tips, and more.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Retention isn't merely a metric; it's the foundation of sustainability that needs to be prioritised.

While acquisition drives traffic, retention builds communities. In 2025, publishers must prioritise strategies that deepen reader engagement and foster loyalty.

Constantly chasing new audiences is costly and unsustainable. Studies show that loyal readers consume three times more content, share articles twice as often, and contribute to 60% of recurring revenue. Retention also strengthens SEO, as returning users signal content quality to algorithms, boosting organic rankings. Here are some proven retention strategies for publishers:

1. Email Newsletters 

   Newsletters remain one of the most effective retention tools, but they must be personalised and habit-forming. The New York Times’ “The Morning” newsletter builds reader loyalty by delivering a mix of must-know news and personalised recommendations. Similarly, Axios keeps readers engaged with its concise, structured Smart Brevity format. Tools like Mailchimp and Beehiiv enable publishers to dynamically tailor newsletter content based on reader preferences, ensuring relevance and repeat engagement.

2. Membership Models with Tiered Value 

   Offer exclusive benefits that scale with commitment. A basic tier could include ad-free browsing, while premium tiers unlock live Q&As, downloadable reports, or early access to events. Publications like The Saturday Paper and Crikey excel here, tying subscriptions to unique editorial value. Additionally, fostering community through forums, webinars, and member-only Q&As encourages deeper engagement and advocacy.

3. AI-Driven Personalisation 

   Leverage machine learning to serve tailored content recommendations. Platforms like BrightEdge or Dynamic Yield analyse user behaviour to predict interests, curating homepage layouts or article suggestions. For instance, a reader browsing "AI in media" sees related case studies or podcasts upon their next visit.

4. Develop Brand Lovers 

   Leverage habit-forming channels like apps, events, and games to create deeper audience connections. Encouraging interactions among readers—such as The New York Times crosswords or SODP online events and offline dinners—fosters a sense of belonging and strengthens reader retention.

5. Have a Good Onboarding and Churn Procedure 

   Identify subscribers at risk of leaving (e.g., inactivity, upcoming expiry dates) and implement targeted interventions. Offer incentives like exclusive content or discounts on longer-term plans to encourage renewals and reduce churn.

It's not too late to implement strategies that boost retention and drive long-term engagement, you can start now.

SODP POSTS

The New Yorker Turns 100 − How a Poker Game Pipe Dream Became a Publishing Powerhouse

Literate in tone, far-reaching in scope, and witty to its bones, The New Yorker brought a new – and much-needed – sophistication to American journalism when it launched 100 years ago this month.

As I researched the history of U.S. journalism for my book “Covering America,” I became fascinated by the magazine’s origin story and the story of its founder, Harold Ross.

In a business full of characters, Ross fit right in. He never graduated from high school. With a gap-toothed smile and bristle-brush hair, he was frequently divorced and plagued by ulcers.

Ross devoted his adult life to one cause: The New Yorker magazine.

READ MORE

JOB BOARD

➡️ Lonely Planet is looking for an audience development editor who will play a key role in expanding her reach and impact, and will be responsible for developing and implementing strategies to grow website traffic and audience engagement (New York). SEE MORE

➡️Reach Plc  is seeking an audience development editor who will be at the heart of their content distribution strategy, which involves identifying and responding to emerging trends on key distribution channels, ensuring their content remains relevant and engaging for their audience. (UK, Remote). SEE MORE

COMMUNITY BUZZ

Industry News

➡️ It’s no longer groundbreaking to say that the SEO landscape is evolving. But this time, the shift is fundamental. We’re entering an era where search is no longer just about keywords but understanding. At the core of this shift is vector-based SEO. Optimizing for vectors gives websites a major advantage in search engines and overall web presence. READ MORE

➡️ Google has made a number of updates to the product analytics section within Google Merchant Center Next. Organic conversions have been renamed to Purchases. Plus, Google lets you specify it's traffic to PDPsm instead of products, and labels. READ MORE 

Social Media Discussions

➡️ Dr. Constance Ejuma on LinkedIn:

Observations on ChatGPT and search...

✅ It's increasingly being used like a search engine, especially now that the sign-in requirement to access the search feature has been eliminated.

✅ It has access to real-time information, which doesn't bode well for news sites. By stitching together snippets from various sources, it generates its own news "articles" on the fly, citing information seamlessly. This results in a Frankenstein format that quickly gets the gist of the story across (convenient for users), but cuts news sites at the knees.

CONTINUE READING

These are the highlights for the last week.

Until next!

Vahe Arabian and the editorial team at SODP